


The Prodigal Hawke Returns

by auntfanny



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, One Shot, Pre-Relationship, Reunions, Stand Alone, unlikely friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-11 22:40:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20161285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auntfanny/pseuds/auntfanny
Summary: Hawke has come to Skyhold to help the Inquisition, but before she can get to work, she has to bully a grumpy Templar she used to know.





	The Prodigal Hawke Returns

**Author's Note:**

> Pre-relationship between my Trevelyan mage Inquisitor from my main work and Cullen. I just recently played DA2 for the first time and loved Hawke, and couldn't help but wonder how she would react to seeing Cullen again after Kirkwall. Stand alone work, no other reading required.

Cullen was sparring with a recruit in the courtyard. He wore no armor, only a tunic and trousers, as he often did when practicing. It gave his opponent a sense of calm that allowed them to try without inhibition, it was a skill Cullen had honed well. His soldiers feared him, but not so much they became timid around him. He was working hard, sweat gathered on his back and made his shirt stick to him a little bit. Tirnella watched from the battlements nearby, attempting to not look too obvious.

From her vantage point, she noticed a figure approaching Cullen from behind. She tensed, observing closely. It was a woman, dressed in traveling clothes, her face obscured by her blonde hair. Suddenly, the woman leaped onto Cullen’s shoulder’s with a roar, sending him crashing to the ground. Nell immediately rushed down the steps and across the field towards him, worry on her face. Cullen let out a loud and colorful curse, which was drowned out by the woman’s cackling. As Tirnella came to a stop beside them, she rolled off Cullen and onto her feet gracefully. Cullen pushed himself up on his elbows, still breathing hard.

“Cullen, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Inquisitor, I’m not that delicate. Still, Hawke, I’m not twenty three anymore,” Cullen muttered.

Tirnella’s mouth dropped open. “Hawke? _The_ Hawke? The Champion of Kirkwall, Hawke?” she asked. Hawke looked at her, beaming.

“Inquisitor! I was just on my way to see you, but I had to make a detour to bother an old friend,” she said in a bright voice. “That’s me, hero of the shittiest city-state in Thedas.” Hawke was… not was Tirnella expected. She was very tall and intimidating, but her face was soft and happy. She smiled a lot, Nell noticed.

Cullen, back on his feet, clapped Hawke on the shoulder. “This woman singlehandedly made my job a nightmare for seven years,” he said, his voice verging on affectionate. Hawke laughed.

“Damn right I did! And I’d do it again, it got you out of Kirkwall, no?”

“That it did,” Cullen murmured. “Hawke, this is –”

“Inquisitor Tirnella Trevelyan, freed mage of Ostwick, joined the Inquisition as one of the few survivors of the Conclave. I did my homework,” Hawke said proudly. Nell felt slightly taken aback at being so well known by a total stranger, especially given that stranger is the Champion of Kirkwall.

“We are extremely grateful you have decided to help us,” Nell said. “Varric was less than pleased we invited you here. He worries about you.”

Hawke smirked. “Speaking of, I think it’s time I reunited with him. We’ve much to catch up on, chaos to cause, havoc to wreak. I will meet up with you later, I have _many_ questions about what finally made Cullen tolerable.”

“Hey!” Cullen said, offended. “I was never intolerable.”

“Let’s not lie to the Inquisitor, Cullen, it isn’t becoming of us,” Hawke said with a wink as she jogged across the courtyard to the main staircase. Cullen grumbled to himself as he and Nell watched her go.

“Maker, that woman is relentless in her trouble making.”

Nell chuckled. “You like that about her,” she said. “Did you two ever...?”

Cullen scoffed. “Hawke? No, I never considered her… Like that. For many years we were adversaries, but I stood with her when Kirkwall fell. I knew whatever she was fighting for had to be the right thing; she has that effect on people.”

“I can’t wait to ask her about you,” Nell said wickedly. Cullen groaned.

“Andraste preserve me, Hawke’s visit is going to take an eternity.”

Later that evening, Cullen was intercepted by Hawke on the battlements. She leaned on her elbows on the battlement wall, looking over the mountains. Cullen joined her.

“So, Cullen Rutherford is finally out of his Templar armor. Never thought I’d live to see the day,” Hawke said. Cullen grimaced.

“After what we went through, did you honestly believe I would return to the order?” he asked. Hawke shrugged.

“I thought you might leave, but your life was the order, I would’ve understood if you had stayed.”

“I am as severed from the Templars as I can be,” Cullen sighed. “You know I no longer take lyrium?”

Hawke’s eyebrows raised. “Really?” she breathed. “Cullen, all joking aside, that is remarkable.”

“It was not an easy decision, but I stand by it still.”

“And look at you now, madly in love with a mage,” Hawke teased. Cullen shook his head.

“I am not in love with Tirnella,” he said defensively. Hawke grinned.

“I never mentioned a specific person by name. I believe you showed your hand too soon, Commander. That, and Varric keeps me up to date with the gossip.”

Cullen narrowed his eyes. “Hawke, I swear, if you try to embarrass me by telling her –”

“Cullen, relax. I’m not in the business of stomping out beauty when it blooms in unusual places. I think it’s all rather poetic, if I’m honest.”

“Poetic?” Cullen snorted. Hawke nudged his shoulder playfully.

“Yes, poetic. Think about it – a tortured Templar who feared mages, only to help start the mage rebellion alongside an apostate, who then finds love with a mage right as the world is about to end. Someone had a keen sense of irony when they wrote the story of your life, Cullen.”

“I suppose you’re correct, it is a tad clandestine,” he agreed.

“Now all we have to do is save the world so you can get the girl, get laid, and maybe she can help you remove that decade old stick from your ass!” Hawke said cheerfully. Cullen made a repulsed noise and hid his face with his palms.

“That is the last thing I need.”

“I don’t know, Cullen, it’s been wedged in there a long time.”

“That is _not_ what I meant, Hawke.” Cullen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I did… awful things as a Templar. It’s too much to ask her to overlook that after everything she has been through.”

“Did you see her run to your rescue today? I almost worried she’d kick _my_ ass. You would be surprised what people will work with when they love someone. Fenris couldn’t get within five feet of a mage when we met, now he sleeps beside one every night,” Hawke said gently. “At least tell her how you feel. What have you got to lose?”

“My dignity.”

“You wore a skirt for ten years, I think you can handle a little embarrassment now and again.”

“Have you been saving these or are you thinking them up on the spot to torment me?”

“Oh, I’ve had a list since Kirkwall. Varric and I write to each other to hammer out new ideas when we feel our insults are getting tired.”

Cullen rolled his eyes. “If anyone had any sense in their head, they would separate you two by law.”

Hawke laughed loudly, punching Cullen’s shoulder. “Alright, grumpy, I’ll give you a few minutes of peace. Tell Tirnella you love her before you lose the chance, you deserve happiness now.”

“I didn’t before?”

“Not so much, but things change,” she said with a wink.


End file.
